Thompson the best around – Finnerty

Thompson brings his Coventry Blaze team into the Motorpoint Arena tonight (7pm) to face Finnerty’s Sheffield Steelers.

Last season saw Coventry produce their worst-ever finish in the league, finishing sixth after a season which saw their roster decimated by injury problems.

Finnerty was initially signed up by Thompson on a playing contract early this summer but, once he was asked to succeed Ben Simon as player-coach at Sheffield, the Blaze and Great Britain coach had no hesitation in letting Finnerty take up the role.

“The deal was all done for me to go to Coventry, but then the Sheffield job came up and, thankfully, he let me go for it,” said Finnerty.

“He didn’t necessarily have to do that but he did it without thinking about himself or his team because he realised what a great opportunity it would be.

“I have the utmost respect for him and there’s no question that he’s the best coach in the league.

“If he ever moved to North America, he would move up the ranks pretty quickly because guys like him – who know the game inside out and from top to bottom – are few and far between.”

Coventry arrive at the Motorpoint Arena unbeaten in the league, having twice beaten both Hull and Fife but suffered a shock 10-1 hammering at the hands of Nottingham Panthers in the Challenge Cup.

Last season is one Thompson will want to forget coming after he had regained the league title the previous year. Finnerty said he expected the Blaze to be in among the usual handful of teams fighting it out for honours towards the end of the season.

“Us and Belfast have already shown this season what can happen if you pick up a few injuries,” said Finnerty.

“But you can’t use it as an excuse and Paul Thompson wouldn’t regarding the problems he had last season.

“There were other reasons they struggled last season and he’s going to want to go all out to prove he’s put together a winning team this season. - Coventry always come back strong.”

Defenceman Matt Stephenson is expected to figure more prominently against Coventry after only a handful of shifts in last Sunday’s 5-3 home win over Cardiff due to an injury sustained at Hull earlier in the week

Young British forward Tom Squires is also deemed fully fit following a shoulder injury.

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